Blue Orb ... Cubed

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

Blue Orb ... Cubed

The human experience is, at once, no boundaries and at other times is all about boundaries. The way we humans relate to the nature around us is fascinating.

In the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, venues are being constructed that interpret and capture the essence of the very world we live in.

Chinese labourers work at the National Aquatics Center on April 3, 2007 in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: Guang Niu/Getty Images

This from AP via Yahoo! Sports -

Bird's Nest, Watercube to get test events in 2008
Associated Press - March 21, 2007

BEIJING (AP) -- The Bird's Nest and the Watercube -- the 2008 Beijing Olympics' signature structures -- will get their first tests early next year.

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center (L) and the National Stadium in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

Twenty-six test events are set for 2007, but none are in the national stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, or the aquatics center, known as the Watercube.

BOCOG vice president Yang Shu'an said Wednesday that 16 additional test events would be held in 2008, but did not specify where each of the competitions would be held.

The first major test event this year is the World Junior Rowing Championships begins Aug. 8 -- one year before the opening of the Games. Baseball, cycling, canoeing, archery and beach volleyball also are among the test events.

"All of these sports are equally important to help us accumulate experience to help us host the Beijing Olympics next year," Yang said. "There will be a big learning curve. For example, the timing and scoring systems. We have to ensure that we test the timing and scoring systems so they will work properly during the Olympics."

In this handout from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, (BOCOG) An artist impression of the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. The National Aquatics Center hosts swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming duirng the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Image Credit: BOCOG/Getty Images

BOCOG president Liu Qi said a test to carry the Olympic torch to the summit of Mt. Everest would take place in May.

"Chinese athletes will try to climb Mt. Everest while carrying the torch," Liu said Wednesday in the Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Pao. "It is a first in Olympic history."

Liu said he expected a decision next month about whether the torch relay would pass through Taiwan.

"The mainland is still consulting with the Taiwanese side about the torch relay," he said.

China has offered to allow the torch relay to pass through Taiwan, but officials there have said it is acceptable only if the island is part of the torch's international route.

The two sides split amid civil war almost 60 years ago and the mainland still claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.
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